Bionotics Plc (United Kingdom) - Jan 2008

unquote
01 January 2008

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Funds managed by the private equity business of J O Hambro Capital Management Limited (JOHCM) have completed the de-listing of medical diagnostics business Bionostics Plc (formerly Ferraris Plc), in a deal which values the company at approximately £15.1m. The transaction was conducted through the acquisition vehicle NAV Bidco Limited, which has purchased just over 50 million shares at 30 pence per share, representing a premium of 106.9% on the closing price of 14.5 pence on 5 December 2007 – the day before the offer was officially announced. JOHCM, which already held a 24.9% stake in the business, was attracted to the investment as it felt the company would struggle to attract the research coverage, liquidity and level of market rating to justify a UK listing, especially in light of the fact that it operates predominantly in the US. It was further felt that Bionostics would be better placed to deliver on its medium term business plan as a private entity, free from the requirement to meet the equity market’s expectations.

Company

Bionostics is a specialist developer of medical diagnostic products for the liquid control and cryosystem sectors. The company was incorporated in 1954 and was previously known as Ferraris Plc, which disposed of several non-core assets throughout 2006 before officially re-branding as Bionostics Plc in February 2007. The business currently operates through two subsidiaries; Bionostics Inc, the largest of the two, a US-based provider of liquid control systems that are used to test the accuracy of blood testing devices, and Oxford Cryosystems, a UK-based developer of low-temperature devices for Xray crystallography, an important technique in markets such as drug discovery, biotechnology and materials science. Bionostics, headquartered in Birmingham, generated EBITDA of £2.2m on turnover of £13.9m for the year to end August 2007.

People

Christopher Mills, Maarten Hemsley and James Agnew handled the investment for JOHCM Private Equity.

Advisers

Company - McFarlanes, Howard Corney (Legal)Company - Rothschild, John Byrne, Paul Simpson (Corporate Finance)Equity - Bircham Dyson Bell, John Turnball (Legal)Equity - Strand Partners, Simon Raggett, Stuart Faulkner (Corporate Finance)

Sourced from: UK & Ireland unquote" 363 (Feb 2008)